The Department of Health (DOH) said it observed an increase in deaths due to Covid-19 in July and mid-August, noting that the majority of these recorded deaths were unvaccinated individuals.

“There is this observed increase in the number of deaths over these past months,” said DOH Officer-in-Charge Maria Rosario Vergeire in a press briefing on Friday, Aug. 19.

“In June, we are just averaging one death per day.. For July, we have an average of eight deaths per day. This mid-August, ganun din po ang nakikita natin (we are seeing a same trend)---nine deaths per day,” she added.

Vergeire said that most of the deaths in July and August were people who weren't vaccinated.

“Nakikita natin na medyo tumataas po ang mga namamatay dahil sa Covid-19. Upon analyzing our data, from July 1 to August 14, ang atin pong detalye ng mga namamatay sa ospital (We are seeing that the number of deaths due to Covid-19 is slightly increasing. Upon analyzing our data, from July 1 to August 14, the details of those who died in hospitals)–we found that 63 percent of these deaths were those who were not vaccinated,” she said.

Vergeire urged all eligible individuals to have themselves vaccinated to avoid getting the severe form of Covid-19.

“Gusto lang natin magpaalala sa ating mga kababayan, mas tumataas yung probabilidad na kayo po ay magka severe infection at maari pang mamatay kung hindi po tayo magpapabakuna (We just want to remind our citizens that the probability that you will get a severe infection and may even lead to death increases if we do not get vaccinated),” she said.

Since 2020, the Philippines has already confirmed 3,844,708 cases of Covid-19. Of which, 3,747,372 were tagged as recoveries, while 61,221 were deaths as of Aug. 18.

Vergeire said that the average number of Covid-19 cases in the Philippines per day is at 3,757. The country remains under the low-risk case classification with an average daily attack rate of 3.53 cases per 100,000 population.

The National Capital Region and Cordillera Administrative Region were still under the moderate risk case classification, said Vergeire.

“While the country remains at low risk classification, we encourage the public to not underestimate Covid-19,” said Vergeire.

“As we begin to go back to our pre-pandemic lives, we must remember to follow the minimum public health standards to prevent the rising number of cases,” she added.